Is This a Ghost…?

Lewis E. Atchison Jr. and wife, Valeria, were in Chattanooga for the Head of the Hooch regatta one weekend. During their stay, they decided to explore the city’s haunted past by taking an extended ghost tour with Chattanooga Ghost Tours (an awesome tour I highly recommend). The above photograph was the result. Atchison snapped the photo during the tour at what is known as the Underground Chattanooga parking deck at 633 Chestnut St. A historical marker at the location recalls the life of G.W. Franklin, a black business owner who lived from 1865 to 1928. Among his establishments was a successful undertaking business, thought to have been located there.

Access to below the parking deck was blocked by a chain link fence. Only recently has the fence been open to allow people inside… Two caged areas thought to have been used as livery stables are still located underneath the street and accessible via the parking deck. Amy Petulla, owner fo the ghost tour, says this specific location is more “active” than others on the tour. But Atchison’s photo is the most convincing evidence so far, Petulla said. “We’ve gotten a lot of photos, but this is the best one,” she said. “It’s not a double exposure; there’s no reflection, no flash. It just looks like a female form.”

2011 photo from the same location appears to show a little girl in a pink dress

Two fingerprint-sized bruises appeared on Valeria Atchison’s arm following the tour

Atchison also believes that several other figures can be seen in the photo, including a “statesman” with a full mustache and hat and, possibly, a disembodied apron recalling of the former business hanging on the back wall.

Petulla said the photo will be explored by several scientific paranormal investigation groups to determine authenticity, but it’s hard not to see a ghostly female form no matter which angle you look at it… As for his wife, Atchison said she refuses to visit the location again. Shortly after the tour, she noticed what appeared to be two fingerprint sized bruises on her arm. “My wife says she’ll never go back,” he said.

Sadly I still see it as a double exposure, but with hope because I was not there to witness the shot. nor have I seen the original file and or negative… What do you see in the photo?